Curious facts about wind power

As the Earth is heated by the Sun, some regions become warmer than others. The air in the

warm regions rises. Air from cooler regions rushes in to replace it. This creates air currents –

what we know as wind.

Location

Winds affect every part of the Earth. There are over 130 wind farms in the UK and many more are

under construction. Wind turbines can be put in any area where there is a lot of wind.

How it is made into electricity

The wind blows turbine blades, which then turn. This turning motion is transferred to a generator to

produce electricity.

Advantages

• It is a renewable source of energy, which means that it will not run out.

• As one of the windiest countries in Europe, it is perfect for our climate.

• Wind energy is pollution free.

• The land between the turbines can be used for farming.

• Wind turbines can be used to supply energy in remote places.

• There is no need to dig underground or drill for the resource; therefore there is less

land pollution.

Disadvantages

• Some people complain about the noise generated from wind turbines.

• For some people wind farms have a negative impact on the view of a landscape.

• There are potential local wildlife impacts such as birds being killed by the blades of the turbine.

However, the risk to nature from Global Warming is far greater than this.

• The wind is not always predictable. Some days may have a lot of wind and others may have no

wind at all.

As the Earth is heated by the Sun, some regions become warmer than others. The air in the warm regions rises. Air from cooler regions rushes in to replace it. This creates air currents – what we know as wind.

Winds affect every part of the Earth. There are over 130 wind farms in the UK and many more are under construction. Wind turbines can be put in any area where there is a lot of wind.

The wind blows turbine blades, which then turn. This turning motion is transferred to a generator to produce electricity.

Key Facts

It is a renewable source of energy, which means that it will not run out. This means that they help reduce global warming.

As one of the windiest countries in Europe, it is perfect for our climate.

The land between the turbines can be used for farming.

Wind turbines can be used to supply energy in remote places.

There is no need to dig underground or drill for the resource; therefore there is less pollution of the soil.

There are many advantages to wind power, but there are a lot of points we need to consider when investigating the benefits of this source of energy:

Some people complain about the noise generated from wind turbines.

For some people, wind farms have a negative impact on the view of a landscape.

There are potential local wildlife impacts such as birds being killed by the blades of the turbine.

The wind is not always predictable. Some days may have a lot of wind and others may have no wind at all.